Barack Obama figured he could go over to Great Britain and his record as president of the United States would move Britons to act on Brexit. (The exit of Britain from the European Union) And he did. Just not the way he expected. Before he went there, the Brexit movement was losing by 5 points, but since he spoke out for Britain to remain in the EU, the polls are flipped and Brexit now leads by two.
Arron Banks, the British entrepreneur is the leader of the grassroots movement looking to exit the EU. He says he was wary when Obama first came over there and urged them to remain in the EU, but now, he would welcome him back as often as possible. The vote is scheduled for June 23rd.
“I think it’s hugely important geopolitically because the European Union is developing into a kind of United States of Europe, and that’s something the British are naturally pretty anti. And it’s really come down to the point where most of our laws are now being made in Brussels—65 percent. Our ultimate court is in France and we’ve got open borders to 500 million people. So clearly immigration is a massive issue, it’s not dissimilar to a lot of the stuff they are discussing with Trump, in the sense of [how] some of these issues resonate.”
“The president of the European Union has never been elected. So there’s a massive democratic deficit. Can you imagine in America that you just have an appointed president, it wouldn’t be popular, would it?”
“It’s the sentiment in a lot of European countries where we’ve got these kind of Eurosceptic movements, where the establishment is trying to contain it because they love Brussels. Big companies love it, politicians love it, because what’s not to love? You finish your job as prime minister of Luxembourg and you become president of the European Union.”
Banks believes Obama was given talking points to Obama who used the oft used phrase of Cameron’s, “be in the back of the queue.”
“He basically said if you leave the European Union you’ll go to the back of the trade queue. Number one, we don’t particularly like being threatened in our home doorstep. Number two, everyone was slightly confused why he used the word queue and not line. It led to a lot of discussion whether he had just been given it to read. So I think he was briefed obviously by the British government, and it was a favor.”
“But since his appearance polls have actually gone in the other direction. We need to hear more from him, really. Send him back for another go, we’d be delighted to see him again.”
Obama has finally found someone who welcomes his presence.